Blog 9

                Throughout many of the readings and articles in class, a theme that has popped up has been the need to be politically savvy. It is a shame that this is something that is considered of importance of a school counselor is some eyes.  Throughout the discussions on the vignettes of each chapter, the comment, “Don’t rock the boat”, has come up many times. For me personally this is something that I wish more counselors would do. I understand that one must be sensitive to others authority, opinions and programs already set up, but sometimes rocking the boat is exactly what is needed. Kouzes and Posner (2012) have one of the steps in the leadership process; challenge the process as number one. Now I am not sure if that was intentionally, but I agree that it should be number one. If you don’t challenge what has been done before you, how do you know what needs to be changed? We have done many of these vignettes and had to rate skills knowledge and qualities on scales, and I am not a huge fan of rating something’s that really shouldn’t be put in numerical order. All parts of the Leadership model of Kouzes and Posner are important; it’s the intensity in which you deliver them that is important. The part of the job as a school counselor is being a, leader, advocate, and to collaborate and consult with others. I think it is okay to be not as strong in some of these categories as long as you aware and willing to work it and grow as an individual. New things are learned every day and you never stop growing and learning as a person.

                The article by Mason and McMahon (2009) did a nice job tying in an actual study of perceived leadership processes and abilities in acting school counselors. I was a little surprised to see that those counselors that had been in the job longer than newer graduates reported higher leadership qualities. It would be interesting to see how others viewed the school counselors in regards to leadership skills and abilities and to compare the data. People sometimes do not always rate themselves as high as they should. In my eyes, you can be a leader in different ways than others and still be effective and have respect. I understand the logic behind a school counselor feeling like they were more of a leader based on number of years at a school and from life experiences and school experiences, however I do not think that should be a determining factor in leadership qualities. It is important but not the most important. One part of the article that I did not like reading was the section where the “more experienced “school counselor took the “naive” new counselor under their wing. I think this is a problem and why so many school counselors and teachers that are new feel as though they shouldn’t “rock the boat”. Perhaps I am just an overly opinionated individual and once I am in an actual school my position on this will change but I hope not!

Dollarhide, C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs. (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.

Mason, E. C. M., & McMahon, H. G. (2009). Leadership practices of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 13(2), 107-115.